IOWA FFA CONFERENCE
One of the nation’s largest state gatherings of agricultural education students is underway at Iowa State University. Scott Johnson, executive director of the Iowa F-F-A Association, says it’s gratifying to see how membership in the organization has continued growing in recent years, and this 95th annual Iowa F-F-A Leadership Conference at I-S-U’s Hilton Coliseum promises to be the biggest yet, with perhaps seven-thousand in attendance. That would eclipse the record set in 2019. Johnson says they’ll be hosting members from 258 of the state’s 260 F-F-A chapters, and they’ll recognize the 19-thousandth member on-stage. There will be around 30 competitive events in addition to a career show and tours, along with motivational speakers and workshops. The conference opened Sunday in Ames and will conclude Tuesday night.
SPORTS BETTING TAXES
The Iowa House has approved a bill that sets up a distribution formula for the taxes the State of Iowa is collecting from casinos that offer sports wagering in Iowa. Representative Jacob Bossman of Sioux City says the bill also sets up a yearly spending plan for sports wagering taxes.
Community foundations and non-profit corporations around the state will be eligible for that block of taxes from sports wagering.
Bossman says. Representative Timi Brown-Powers of Waterloo says the plan will put a little extra money for non-profits in areas of the state that have casinos.
Sports betting has been legal in Iowa since August of 2019, but unlike the rest of state gambling revenue, the taxes from sports betting has NOT been deposited in a state infrastructure fund. About 19-and-a-half million dollars in taxes paid so from sports betting apps and sports book areas in Iowa casinos is essentially sitting in an escrow account today. The bill uses seven million dollars in that account to cover a backlog of applications for the Endow Iowa Tax Credit for donations to community foundations. The bill passed the House, and now goes to the Senate for consideration.
BODY ARMOR BILL
A bill that has cleared the Iowa House unanimously may protect officers in Iowa police and sheriff’s departments from faulty products — and it may help an Iowa company that makes body armor. R-M-A in Centerville was formed by a retired police officer who also served as a Marine. Representative Austin Harris of Moulton toured the company about a month ago and says there’s a Chinese company that had stolen their intellectual property and was remanufacturing their product. Harris says the ballistic plate inside the Chinese imitation is made with cheap, low quality steel that does not adequately protect those who are wearing it. The bill would require Iowa law enforcement agencies using tax dollars to buy body armor, like ballistic vests, to purchase products that meet the standards of the National institute of Justice.
FATAL ACCIDENT
The Plymouth County Sheriffs Office identified the two people who died in what they describe as a near head on collision Thursday afternoon in southwest Plymouth County. In a news release, the Sheriff’s Office says two vehicles were traveling toward each other along K18, north of Butcher Drive, when they collided. Both vehicles left the roadway after impact, and overturned. The drivers were identified as Raymond James Frye, 37, of Orange City, and Randall Kenton Shideler, 54, of Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. The crash remains under investigation.
FRIENDS OF GEHLEN CATHOLIC BALL
Organizers of the 2023 Friend of Gehlen Catholic Ball say that Saturday evening’s event, “Field of Dreams,” was a “grand slam.” Fundraising for the ball raised nearly 297-thousand dollars. Fund-a-cause totaled 64-thousand dollars and counting. The grand total of the donations — $360,880. The “Spirit of Peter & Catherine Gehlen Award was presented to Marty Kurth. He was a Gehlen baseball coach for over 30 years and has been a part of the Gehlen school system for over 35. Organizers say they are grateful and humbled by the support shown to make this event successful and help “knock it out of the park.”
The General Chairs for the event: Tim & Julie Langel and Tommy & Nikki Conger
Co-Chairs: Ryan & Tanya LaBahn and Ross & Amanda Small
The Fund-a-Cause was to help raise money for the light poles that line the sidewalk on Memory Lane which are the doors going into the main gym. The project was in need of $30,000+ and we made double that. Very excited to help renovate that lane and make it safe and inviting for students and guests.
JENEARY – CAUCUS BILL
A bill which places new rules on voting in the Iowa caucuses. District 3 State Representative Tom Jeneary of Le Mars says at issue is how the votes will be cast in the caucuses.
By changing the vote tallying system, it changes the nature of a caucus.
Jeneary is not sure about the future of the bill. He says it will not change the status of the Republican Party’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.
The Iowa Democratic Party lost its first in the nation status for the precinct caucuses, while the state Republican Party will host the first in the nation caucuses in 2024.
COURT OF APPEALS SESSION
The Iowa Court of Appeals has announced that they will hold a session early next month in Orange City. The court will hear three cases in the DeWitt Theatre Arts Center at Northwestern College on Thursday, May 4, beginning at 10 am. The oral arguments are open to the public. There will be a time for questions to the court unrelated to the cases to be heard before the court. The three cases include appeals in a drug-related offense from Dallas County; a marriage dissolution case from Dickinson County, and the case of a contested will from Ida County.
RAIL TRAFFIC DOWN
The Iowa D-O-T continues to see trends in rail traffic that show economic challenges. Stuart Anderson gave and update to the Transportation Commission.
Anderson says grains shipments are one area where things have been down.
He says the intermodel shipments from ports into Iowa are also down. Anderson says there is one bright side on the rail shipping front.
His report also shows the drop in travel on the roadways in December and January was likely due to winter weather, as things have picked back up.
Anderson made his comments in a work session prior to last week’s Transportation Commission meeting.
